What does an usher do, exactly?

Your wedding duties

Ushers have a number of pre-wedding tasks and duties on the wedding day itself -- but they’re not too difficult.

Traditionally, the groom and best man choose the ushers, as the bride-to-be chooses her bridesmaids, although nowadays such decisions are often made jointly by the couple. If a groom has no brothers, for instance, but the bride has several, then they might well expect to be asked. Traditionally too the ushers are unmarried, though again people are increasingly doing their own thing. As a rule of thumb, a minimum of one usher per 50 guests is usually suggested. 

Best man boss 

In the management structure of a wedding, the ushers answer directly to the best man. Your duties on the day will be relatively light, but you should be available to help out should any situations arise where you can be of assistance. This could mean helping a guest who is a wheelchair user to their place in the venue, slipping away in advance to light the lanterns for a winter wedding procession or even helping to hand round food or drinks.

As an usher, you are a Jeeves-like presence at the wedding, calmly and politely ironing out any last-minute creases and adding greatly to the smooth running of the day. Best of all, you get to escort the bridesmaids during the course of the day, especially during the procession following the bride. 

Pre-wedding meeting 

You may not know all your fellow ushers, so it's a good idea to get together beforehand and talk arrangements through with the best man. In practice, the occasion of the wedding rehearsal maybe the first available time to do this, but it's a conversation worth having -- let's face it, there won't have been much time to discuss practical matters on the stag night!